I just came back from Tioman Island two days ago ( Thursday, 19th June ) and I have come back with black skin. Actually my whole body has three different shades:

• Dark brown on the most exposed areas, ie: face and neck, forearms, and lower leg regions ( calves and feet )
• Medium brown at areas exposed when swimming, ie: upper arms, thorax, back, and abdomen
• Fair at areas not exposed to sun at all, ie: thighs. I wore beach pants ma.

Tioman was really very enjoyable. Great activites, great place and great company.

But I came back with various sicknesses. On the bus, I had high fever and severe headache. At the end of the journey, the fever subsided and I only had headache. At night, the fever came back and was gone again by Friday morning. Had headache whole Friday. Come Saturday, the headache slowly subsided but now, I have cough. HMPH!

But other than that, it was really good. We survived, despite many obstacles in our journey to and from ( I guess me being sick is quite an obstacle as well ) However, I'll update more on the trip another time, please remind me.

I can't update at the moment because I am uploading 250 of my pictures onto Photobucket so my classmates can have them. I am so nice right?

While I'm busy uploading pictures, you can:

• Read my class blog which has details about the Tioman trip with pictures as well as some prom pictures and other crap which may or may not interest you. http://www.2007pm3.blogspot.com
• View my Tioman Trip pictures at http://www.photobucket.com/pm3_tioman_trip and http://www.photobucket.com/markteen_pm3_tioman_trip
• View my prom pictures at http://www.photobucket.com/markteen_taylors_prom

How to Save Petrol and Electricity

These are some of the measures I personally take to save petrol and electricity. I really do these stuff, so I am really "practicing what I preach".

• Car pool
• Walk and cycle around when your destination is nearby. You get an exercise at the same time
• Use public transportation. No doubt public transportation is unreliable and the journey is long but if you are not rushing and you have some travelling time to spare, using public transportation will save money and carbon emissions. You might actually find some extra time to read the newspapers or have breakfast while waiting for the bus or in the bus itself

How to save petrol while driving

• Drive calmly and avoid hitting the brakes. Whenever you hit the brakes, you are applying resistance to the wheel, which is a waste of energy and eventually a waste of petrol. I try as much as possible not to press my brakes though it can be a little dangerous. Whenever I approach a turning, instead of pressing the brakes, I release my accelerator while still at a distance before turning the steering wheel
• Maintain a low speed. I usually drive at 70-80km/h. At other times, I aim to drive at 60km/h in attempt to save petrol ( I don't know if there is really a significant difference ) As of what I have been reading, driving above 110km/h drains your petrol. 60-90km/h will be a safer and more economical speed to drive at.
• For automatic transmission cars, the slower you drive, the less fuel you burn. However, this is not true for manual transmission vehicles. For manual cars, use higher gears to save fuel
• Avoid accelerating too quickly. Try to take a longer time to reach a higher speed. In other words, don't press your accelerator too hard. If you've studied Physics before, you'll know the equation F = ma , where F = force, m = mass, a = acceleration. Higher the acceleration, higher the driving force required, therefore more fuel is burned to provide the driving force. A good indication of how much petrol is used is the rpm scale which is the scale next to the speedometer. I try not to exceed 3000 rpm
• For automatic transmission vehicles, avoid putting your gear into neutral (N) or parking (P). If you look at the RPM-meter, you'll realise that the needle actually moves slightly higher when the gear moves into N or P from drive (D). This might be wear out your brakes though because your breaks need to work against the tires which are trying to move forward. Your legs will get tired too if you press onto the brakes for a long period of time. So, justify for yourself which is more worth doing. For manual transmission vehicles, placing your gear in the neutral position consumes less fuel
• Turn off your engine when vehicle is not running or when waiting in the car

How to save electricity

• Apparently, you save electricity if you set your air-conditioner temperature at 24-26C. I once did this online pledge with LiveEarth.org and my pledge was to put my air-conditioner temperature at at least 24C and since then I have been fulfilling my pledge.
• To save on air-conditioning, I turn on my air-conditioner for one or two hours before I sleep and then turn it off right before I go to bed. So the room will be cold and comfortable when I am falling asleep. At night, the temperature tends to fall, so when I wake up the next morning, the room will not be too cold.

These are some of the steps I take to save on fuel and electricity. Don't just look at it as trying to save your money but look at it as trying to protect the environment.

Disclaimer: All measures and explanations stated above are my personal views based on personal observations and readings. I hold no responsibility should the steps explained above are ineffective. However, feel free to give feedbacks and comments.


-edit-
I just realised that even for automatic transmission cars, it is not necessary that the slower you drive the less petrol you use. Automatic cars also has gears which automatically change as the speed increases. To achieve higher fuel efficiency, move up to high gears as quickly as possible ( applies to manual cars as well ). I tried counting the number of times the gear changes for my auto car, and it appears to me that it changes gears twice. And it changes to the highest gear at approximately 60km/h. But even if your car speed does decrease below 60, the highest gear is maintained.

Prom, Petrol and Public transportation

I'm supposed to be packing my bag for Tioman now, but I am so lazy. And I need to sleep soon because I have to wake up early because I need to be in church by 9am. I am ushering tomorrow morning. But, I'm tempted to blog about the adventure I went on today.

Anyway, just a note that I will be leaving for Tioman tomorrow night ( technically speaking, since it is past midnight, it should be tonight, Sunday night 15th June ), bus leaving at 10pm, and will be there until Thursday. So, my blog will be un-updated again for that one week, so I should type something out now before the blog materials pile up till I get lazy to blog, again.

I just came back from prom yesterday. And it was quite enjoyable. It was waaaayy better than DJ prom. Forgive me DJ prom organisers if you happen to stumble upon my blog, but that is the plain and brutal truth. The performances were way better; no overly rock music by people who were trying too hard to perform. They had some dances, which were quite good, especially the ones sportingly performed by some lecturers. I'll upload the video later. YouTube is being difficult with me; I've tried to upload it thrice: once on Apple Safari, once on Mozilla Firefox; and once on Internet Explorer and they ALL failed. Perhaps my poor internet connection is to be blamed. STREAMYX!!! ^%%@^$%#%#^

As I was saying, the prom was cool. The food was slightly better than during our prom, but just slightly. The hall was bigger, and there was actually a dance floor. I don't know what's so fun about dancing to the loud music, I guess I'll never enjoy clubbing. I did join in awhile lah. I felt like an idiot because I don't know how to dance. So I wiggled about, hop a bit and sang to the songs I was familiar with. But acting like an idiot was quite fun for a while. =P

And oh, I forgot to mention that the venue of the prom was the same as during high school, Renaissance Hotel, KL.

Not wanting to look like every other guy, I wanted to try something different. So, I wore this.

I know lah, I look nerdy and all in this picture, but I don't think I actually looked nerdy. I'm a nerd lah, what to do right?

I brought my coat along just in case I felt awkward or underdressed. And I did feel under-dressed because everyone looked so formal in their black penguin suit. So, I put my coat on for a while but took it off later.

That's all I'll update about prom at the moment. I might continue later, but see how lah.

***

One of the things I wanted to blog about during my examinations ( but took no initiative to ) was about the oil prices. 

Prices of crude oil has tripled, quadrupled and gained many fold over the past years. It is crazy to think that our oil reserves will dry up and we have to rely on other forms of energy sources to run our vehicles. ( Nuclear! Muahaha )

And Malaysia recently hiked up the petrol price to a brilliant RM2.70, an increase of over 40%.

Having much time to think during examination preparations, and between pages during which my brains fail to absorb; I have realised the ultimate ( well ultimate is an exaggeration but it is a very viable ) solution to all our petrol price woes. 

Public transportation!

It didn't take many months later for the government to finally release the idea of improving the public transportation services to the media and start planning ways of enhancing its usage.

The usage of public transportation is not only economical, it is eco-friendly.

The government keeps emphasising on the need to change our lifestyle, but we cannot simply rely on RapidKL ( its name does not reflect itself ) and Light Railway Transport because it is

• unreliable
• unpunctual
• it does not cover the routes which are needed by the citizens to go to their workplace or studyplace
• and even if it does cover, it is not convenient. For example, if I were to take public transport to my previous place of study, Taylor's College in Subang Jaya, I would have to take 2 buses. And the wait in between buses are ridiculously long. 

If I were to take a bus from my home to IMU, I would need to take a bus to Kelana Jaya station, and then two trains. But it is ridiculous because I have to travel into the Kuala Lumpur city centre and then out to Bukit Jalil. It is a straight road through from Kelana Jaya to IMU on the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP) and it takes half the time. It is a waste of time taking the train into the city.

Therefore, recently, KTMB ( Kereta api Tanah Melayu Berhad ) proposed an interline train system which circles around the various train lines without entering the city. 

And I don't know why they did that, because last year the government approved new monorail links that look like this 

And oh, some projections show that this is how the rail network will look like in 2020

See! Bandar Utama ( One Utama) is there. And there is a direct link to IMU ( IMU is located right in front of the Sri Petaling station ) But I think by the time this is ready, I won't be in IMU anymore.

These are things I hope to see happen in Malaysia ( yang kucinta ) and in Kuala Lumpur. Developed countries do not depend on cars. Statistics estimate that in developed countries 50-70% of their population uses public transport. At the moment in Malaysia? 20%! 

Want us to change our lifestyle? Help us change! 

These projects better come to past, I've not heard anything about it.

***

So much for my ramblings about public transportation. I can really feel the pinch of the fuel price hike. But it is really not so much about the price, it is the carbon footprints I'm leaving behind. So, I am trying to do my part in reducing the use of petrol and electricity ( Did I mention that electricity price is going up too? ) I try to carpool whenever possible, and today, I went on a cycling spree.

For the first time in my entire life, I cycled out of Bandar Utama to Damansara Jaya. I wanted to see the optician to get my spectacles readjusted before I go Tioman. I left about 6.30pm and expected to return at 7pm before it gets dark and then cycle to Centrepoint for dinner. Then while I was there, I thought I would get some contact lenses since I am going to snorkle at Tioman. I want to see the corals with clarity.

Yes, I only want to see the corals with clarity. I am not getting contact lenses out of vanity. Clarity, not vanity! ( Who am I fooling? ) Anyway, they are only dailies, so you won't be seeing me wearing contacts often except during special occasions. Oh, for those contact-lens jargon illiterates, dailies are not yellow flowers ( because those are called daisies ), they are contact lenses you wear for a day and after that throw away.

So, the optician was teaching me how to put on the contact lens and how to take it off. I sucked so badly that I was there till 9pm. I really couldn't put it on and take it off. 

And the price for vanity? Red eyes. My eyes were tearing man.

So yeah, I spent 2 and a half hours at Cambridge ( not the prestigious university, it is the spectacle shop ) and before I left, she said: no swimming with contact lens.

HAHAHA.

I think I'll just put in on anyway. I'll be wearing goggles, so shouldn't be a problem right? I want to see fishes and corals with clarity. =)

After that I cycled to Centrepoint to get some sunscreen, beach pants and my dinner. I had my dinner at like 9.30pm and only got home at 10pm. My maid was quite worried because my mom is outstation.

Okaylah, it wasn't entirely an adventure. But it was quite an eventful evening.

P/S: Omg, I took 2 hours to blog. It is already 2.45am. I need to sleep!!!

Hahahahaha. Been such a long time since I updated my blog. I have had many ideas / inspirations / thoughts to share on my blog, but too bad, I was too lazy to type them up and post them up because I am having exams.

And woo hoo, exams are coming to an end. One more paper, Biology 5, a written practical exam. *God, I pray it won't be tough.* My Physics paper today was extremely extremely extremely extremely extremely tough. It was so so so so crazy. 

And before this my Math paper was so extremely difficult also. So, I hope this Bio paper won't be hard.

Then, I'm off to Prom, Tioman and Genting. I can't wait for exams to be over.

Then, then, then... Then, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe go for Mandarin classes =) And other stuff.

Well, my blog just deserved an update - be it a good or bad one; a short or a long one. Hence, that is the short bad update.

postscript:

For some odd reason, I always miss exams when it is over. As in on the day exam ends, I suddenly feel like having exams again. Yes, call me a nerd for all you want, I am a good nerd. But perhaps this time it will be different. Because before the Physics paper, I anticipated that feeling, but after that crazy Physics paper, I just wanted exams to end.

Oh well, I'm gonna miss going to class / studying for the next two months before I proceed to the International Medical University. Yes, I am enrolled there and I have paid the first semester fees. *those money suckers* RM30k okay! Anyway, as I was saying, I am gonna miss studying, so I'll go study some medical books and immerse myself in the world of anatomy and physiology. I always say, but don't know if I'll do, but I intend to.